


Meet Me Under the Apple Tree

by SerStolas



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Destroy Ending, F/M, Probably inaccurate portrayel of an orchard, Recovery, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 21:49:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17434127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerStolas/pseuds/SerStolas
Summary: Against all odds, Commander Joanna Shepard survived  the Reaper War.  Of her listed kin, her husband Kaidan Alenko of the Normandy SR2 was missing and presumed dead, but his mother, Yulia Alenko, was still alive.  Six years later, Joanna Alenko helps her mother in law run the family orchard with a somewhat rag-tag group of survivors of the war.  Jo learned a long time ago that everyone wanted to talk to Commander Shepard, but most people left Jo Alenko alone.It's been five years since the Normandy was declared missing and the crew listed as presumed dead after a long search.  Jo's happy here, as much as she misses Kaidan...





	Meet Me Under the Apple Tree

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Mass Effect, Bioware does, and I'm just playing with their toys
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @serstolas

The rumble of thunder in the distance caused the great Krogan to pause and consider the darkening clouds in the distance. Nakrax Vigg gave a shake of his great quad and set a last bushel of apples in the back of what looked supsiciously like a re-purposed MAKO. He'd been working on the Alenko Orchard for almost four years now. A survivor of the Reaper War stranded in Vancouver, Nakrax had made the decision to seek out work in the province after his first few stints on a work crew trying to repair the city. For all his Krogen nature, that many species living in close quarters and dealing with a half destroyed city set him on edge.

He'd found work on a human owned apple orchard a few hours outside of the city, run by Yuila Alenko and her daughter-in-law, Jo Alenko. He knew both were widows, and he knew that Jo had served in the Alliance Navy during the war and had somehow survived life threatening injuries. When she'd been cleared to go home from the hospital a year after she'd bee recovered, her mother-in-law had brought her out here. There were a few other displaced war survivors who'd found work and homes at the orchard. There was an Asari who'd given birth not long after Nakrax had arrived here, and two other humans who helped with the care of the orchard and the harvest. 

Nakrax knew the first harvest after the war had been a bad one. Too much debris in the orchards, too much dust in the atmosphere, not enough people to care for the trees. The second year Yulia had been preoccupied with helping Jo with her recovery now that she was out of the hospital.. The third year, and the first he'd been here, had yielded a little, enough to help supply them with a little food. The fourth year had been a little better, not a lot to sell, but a little. Yulia and Jo's savings were running out. The fifth year things had finally started during around for them. Now in the sixth year, they were doing okay. Enough to take crop to the nearest town and have to hauled out for export.

He used to hate apples before the war. Now they were a regular part of his diet, though Earth fruit remained odd to him.

The storm was approaching fast and there wouldn't be any more harvesting today. Nakrax waited for Knox and North to join him in the MAKO and then shut the doors, tearing through the dirt towards the barn complex where they could store the crop and the MAKO. He worked well with the male and female humans who usually helped out in the fields. The Asari Eaara would be at the sprawling main house with her daughter and the human girl that Jo had adopted a few years ago. The war had left a lot of orphans, and three years ago Jo and Nakrax had come across a lone human girl of about four or five on their way back from town, Jo's reaction had been to bring her back to the orchard with them. 

Some searching later and cross-checking with a harried government official could find no living relatives, and Jo had informed them she was adopting the girl. For some interesting reason, they hadn't argued with Jo. Nakrax had never asked her position in the Alliance Military, and he had some suspicions as to who his friend was, but Jo never talked about it, and he never voiced anything aloud.

So Eaara spent her days watching and schooling her own daughter Xathy and Jo's daughter, one Makayla Alenko. Yulia and Jo handled the day to day operations of the Orchard. Jo helped in the fields when she could, often risking Yulia's wrath given the limp Jo still walked with after years of therapy and surgeries. 

Once the Mako was parked and the produce dealt with, Knox and North wandered along the covered walkway that Nakrax and North had spent part of two springs ago putting up between the barns and the house. Nakrax stayed in the barn, spending some time checking on the MAKO's engine.

The form of Jo Alenko appeared in the side doorway leading towards the house about half an hour into his puttering. 

"Krax, come on in, it's time for supper," Jo told him firmly.

Nakrax turned to regard the human woman. She stood medium height for a human, lean from years of service and continued physical exercise. Her red hair was buzzed close to her head, and her fierce blue eyes missed very little as she watched Nakrax leaning over the Mako. Her body was covered in scars, from older injuries and from other sustained during the war. Some Krogens or a Turian would appreciate them, he thought idly, even if most humans didn't. He watched her limp over, heavily favoring her left leg today, which meant the weather was probably bothering her. 

Even with old injuries and scars, Nakrax knew that Jo Alenko wasn't one you should cross. She was still as deadly with a shotgun as any he'd seen, and even more so with biotics, as some scavengers who'd tried to attack and rob the Orchard over the past few years had discovered. 

"Yeah, yeah, just give me a second, Jo," he told her. "How's Kayla doing?"

Jo's lips turned up in a smile at the mention of her daughter. "Well. I'm just glad Eaara's willing to teach her. Nearest town is 45 minutes out on a good day, and we don't always had a stable connection here for her to learn via the Net. She'll probably want to tell you all about her lessons during dinner.

He nodded as he made a last adjustment to a nut in the engine and then set the tool aside and closed the engine block up. Wiping his hands on an old rag, he gestured for Jo to proceed him. "Well then lets go. I'd hate to disappoint one of my favorite nieces."

Jo flashed a faint smile again as she limped back towards the house. Xathy and Makayla both referred to him as "Uncle Krax," a title he was pleased to bare. Those who lived and worked here on the Orchard were an odd family of choice, and some Krogen would say he was totally out of place, but he actually liked it here.

He followed the human in, an old Krogen ready for a rest after a long day.  
~~~

When her mother-in-law had first brought Joanna to the Orchard a year after the Reaper War and fresh out of the hospital, she hadn't been sure what to expect. All she knew was that she desperately needed to get away from all the people, all the noise, and all the probing questions about how she had survived the impossible. She'd spent her year in the hospital being interviewed repeatedly by Alliance staff. Given her injuries, she'd been offered a desk job or a medical discharge. 

After all she'd given up in the war, she'd taken the discharge. Joanna didn't know if she had any fight in her anymore.

They'd lost contact with the Normandy when the relays had exploded. Over the past six years there'd been quite a bit of work to get at least some of the relays working again, and Jo had overheard that there was travel between some of the other systems now last time she was in town. She hadn't paid much attention beyond that, too busy bartering for supplies they needed at home.

Not long before her release from the hospital, the Normandy SR2 and its crew had been declared missing, presumed dead. Joanna had been left with a Kaidan sized hole in her heart. She didn't know if either of them had really expected to survive the war, she knew she hadn't, though they'd talked sometimes at night about what they would do after the war was over.

When Jo's unconscious body had first been recovered, a message had been sent to Yulia Alenko. Jo had awoken, four and a half months after they'd recovered her, to see Yulia Alenko, a woman she'd never met and had only had one phone call with before London, calmly crocheting an afghan by Jo's bedside. After the doctors had spent some hours fussing over Jo's recovery, they'd finally left the two women alone.

Yulia had reached out a warm hand and squeezed Jo's wrist above her IV lightly. "Hello Joanna. I wish we could have met under better circumstances, but I'm glad you're here now. I'm glad neither of us are quite alone."

Her mother-in-law had accepted her completely, and for a woman who'd never had any family beyond the gang she'd worked with on earth during her teens, and the father figure of David Anderson, Yulia Alenko was a heaven-sent gift. 

When Kaidan had been declared missing, presumed dead, they'd leaned on each other for support and comfort. They missed him dearly in their own ways, but they did have family to help them through. Eaara had been an Asari in the same hospital Jo had recovered in, and a few years in, she'd contacted Jo, looking for a little help, lost and adrift on earth. They'd built their Orchard family slowly, first Eaara and then Nakrax, then North and Knox, a human couple originally from Vancouver looking to escape the ruined city as much as anyone else.

When Jo had brought four year old Makayla home, Yulia had immediately taken to the girl, as had everyone else. Yulia had told Jo firmly she'd best make the girl a proper Alenko, and Jo had.

Jo still got some messages from people in the Alliance, mostly questions about things she'd encountered during her quest to save the galaxy, and a few asking for advise. A couple, like James who'd been stuck on earth in London, stayed in touch as friends, and he'd visited the orchard more than once since Jo's discharge.

Everyone wanted a piece of Commander Joanna Shepard, but she'd found when she'd told the Alliance firmly to put the name on her discharge papers as Joanna Alenko, not as many people came looking for her. The smart ones did, but she'd never publicized her name change, and really only the Alliance and her crew had known about her last minute marriage to Kaidan.

She liked being Jo Alenko, mother to Makayla Alenko and daughter-in-law to Yulia Alenko a lot better than she'd ever liked being Commander Shepard. Her career had been driven by what needed or had to be done...now...now she had time to breath, and make decisions about what she really wanted, not what the galaxy needed from her.

She sat on the front porch of the house, three days after the storm, churning over numbers on a datapad. There'd been some storm damage that needed repaired, and she was figuring what needed to be done first, and how much it would cost based on Yulia and Nakrax's survey of the Orchard after the storm. They might have to send to Vancouver for some of the supplies they needed. Two of their signals were down and needed parts replaced, which meant getting messages out here was difficult. Even six years after the war, some places on earth didn't have the best reception. 

She heard the clattering of small tennis shoes on floorboards and glanced up as Kayla and Xathy came bursting out the front door.

"Mama, Mama, there's someone coming in a shuttle!" Kayla announced excitedly.

Jo shot a faintly worried look towards Eaara, who appeared in the doorway behind the girls. They weren't expecting anyone, but then if there had been any messages sent, they may not have received them either with the signal towers down. 

Jo knew her daughter was excited. From what she'd been able to piece together, Kayla had been part of a group of refugees heading north who'd gotten caught in a storm and Kayla had wandered away. They never did find the rest of the group. Kayla had been a little skinny though clearly not mistreated with Nakrax and Jo had found her. 

She loved this little girl with all her worn heart, and Kayla gave her love freely to her Mama, бабка, and the rest of her orchard family. She'd asked about the simple metal wedding band Joanna wore once, and after that had asked a few times about her Papa, and what he'd been like. Jo had told Kayla a few stories about Kaidan. He would have adored this little girl.

Joanna set her data pad aside and reached for the shotgun she kept beside her chair, leveraging herself up using the side of the house. 

"It might be someone nice, pumpkin, but it might not be," she told excited daughter and Xathy. "I want you two to be careful. Go back towards the house with Eaara please."

The girls looked disappointed but obeyed, though they didn't go much beyond the front entryway, peering around Eaara as the Asari stood in the doorway, hands held ready to summon her biotics if needbe as they watched a shuttle flying closer to the house.

Jo's brow creased when she saw the Alliance symbol painted on the side of the shuttle. The shuttle was a little battered, but most were these days, and she wondered if it was legitimate Alliance, or someone who'd stolen a shuttle. She kept the shotgun balanced over one arm where she stood on the porch.

As the shuttle touched down, she could see someone in an Alliance Marine uniform in the pilot seat. She relaxed, but only a little, as a full Admiral emerged from the shuttle. She didn't bother standing at attention, it would strain her leg too much, and she was retired now.

"Captain Alenko," she was greeted by a sharp faced Admiral with black hair, deep brown eyes and olive skin. She lifted a brow at the woman.

"Admiral, how can I help you?" Jo asked.

The Admiral frowned a moment, quick glance around the yard. "I am to assume you didn't receive our messages, Captain?"

Joanna shrugged as she shifted to lean the shotgun up against the house. Xathy and Kayla edged around Eaara into the doorframe. "We've got two damaged signal towers, Admiral, we aren't getting much of anything out here. Storm took them out a few days ago and we haven't been able to repair them yet. What's important enough to bring an Alliance Admiral all the way out here?"

The Admiral actually smiled. "I see your years in retirement haven't changed your attitude, Captain."

Joanna frowned slightly then shook her head as she recognized the woman. "Admiral Dallace. Sorry, it's been a few years." The Admiral had visited her a few times during her time in the hospital. "No. According to my mother-in-law I've only gotten worse."

"Well, I've got news that should please you, and your mother-in-law," Dallace smiled again. She turned back to the shuttle. "Major, get your ass out here."

Joanna looked absolutely stunned as one Major Kaidan Alenko emerged from the shuttle. She registered her daughter rushing beyond Eaara and tossing herself at a startled Kaidan while yelling, "Papa, Papa! Mama, they brought my Papa back!"

Kaidan's warm, whiskey eyes met Jo's as he caught the excited girl in his arms, and Jo briefly heard Makayla inform him that Joanna had adopted her a few years ago, and since he was married to her Mama, that made him her Papa. Kaidan's eyes went soft and he shifted the little girl to his hip as he walked across the yard to the front porch, taking in the stunned Joanna Alenko.

"Jo, love?" he asked softly.

She snapped out of her stupor and limped the few feet between them, letting Kaidan drag her against him, one arm planted firmly about her waist as they kissed for the first time in over six years. 

"Fuck, Kaidan, you're really here?" Jo asked as they pulled back and Kayla let her head rest on her Papa's shoulders and murmured "Language, Mama."

"Yeah, Jo, I'm really here," he told her, his voice full of all the love he'd carried for this woman over the years.

Later they would learn about how the Normandy had made contact with the partially rebuilt Citadel over a year ago, and how they'd limped their way home. They'd learn about the survivors of the Normandy and plan to travel to go see them all. Yulia would scold her son for putting her and Joanna through so much worry over the years. Joanna and Kaidan would walk with Makayla in the coming days through the Orchards, Kaidan adjusting to the news that he had an adopted daughter, and rejoicing in that fact, that Joanna and Kaidan would spend their first night alone together in years as Yulia stole her granddaughter away for the night.

But for now, Joanna was aware that Kaidan was back in her arms, and that finally, that Kaidan shaped hole in her heart was empty no more.


End file.
